News

Eni and Hera together for the circular economy: from waste vegetable oil to biofuel to power waste-collection vehicles

Eni and Hera, companies that have been committed to promoting a circular economy model through continuous technological and organizational development of their businesses for many years, have established a partnership with meant to transforming waste vegetable oil into biofuel for the Hera waste-collection vehicles.

On the basis of this agreement, waste vegetable oil used at home, such as frying oil, recovered by Hera through its 400-odd roadside containers and in about 120 waste collection centres, will be transferred to the Eni biorefinery in Venice, at Porto Marghera, the first example in the world of an oil refinery being converted into a biorefinery, which will transform it into green diesel fuel, a completely renewable product being 15% of Enidiesel+. The biofuel will supply the Hera trucks used to collect municipal waste. During the testing phase, Enidiesel+ will be powering about thirty large trucks, so as to optimize the benefit for the environment, in the Modena area.

06/11/2018

This is where sorted waste ends up

“Sulle tracce dei rifiuti” (Tracing waste) was presented at the Ecomondo fair in Rimini. This Hera report, now in its ninth edition, ensures traceability and recycling of separate waste through a system certified by DNV-GL. The report describes all the actions taken in favour of a circular economy; within this scope, Hera has joined the prestigious international programme CE100 of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and taken part, together with 250 companies from all over the world, in the specific New Plastics Economy Commitment programme, setting two fundamental targets for 2025: +30% of plastic from separate collection and +68% of secondary raw material produced.

Forty-eight per cent of garden waste, paper, organic waste, glass, plastic, wood and metals present in municipal waste is recycled at 71 initial destination plants and 170 final recovery plants, of which 147 are used to recycle materials (paper mills, steel works, recycled plastic manufacturers, paneling factories, etc.), which generate a turnover of about 11 billion euros and employ about 20,000 workers.

The area managed by Hera has reached the European landfill reduction target 18 years early and the packaging recycling target 13 years early. In fact, for packaging, the target of 70% that the European Union has set for 2030 has already been reached.

October

30/10/2018

Ambitious plastic recycling commitments

Hera is one of the 250 companies in the world, and the only Italian multiutility company, to sign the "New Plastics Economy Global Commitment" of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with UN Environment. A global commitment to fight plastic waste pollution at the source and implement a circular economy. Hera is committed to increase the plastic collected in the municipalities served by 30%, the plastic selected and sent for recycling by the Group’s plants by 50% and recycled plastic by 70%.

This ambitious commitments started in 2016, with the acquisition of the Aliplast Group, Italian leader in the recycling of plastic.

26/10/2018

From cooking waste to biomethane: a new circular revolution for Hera

The new plant for producing biomethane from the organic waste of Herambiente was inaugurated on 25 October 2018 in Sant’Agata Bolognese, just outside the city of Bologna.

The plant, which is the first built by a multiutility company in Italy, will be capable of producing about 7.5 million cubic metres a year of biomethane to be fed into the network. This investment of about 37 million euros will make it possible to return to the community the organic waste produced in the home, in the form of gas, which, once fed into the network, will be used to fuel public and private transport vehicles.

Every year, the plant can process 100,000 tonnes of organic waste and 35,000 tonnes of garden waste and prunings. The advanced processes used will produce biomethane, a 100% renewable fuel, and 20,000 tonnes of compost. This will avoid a fossil fuel consumption of 6,000 TOE per year, which corresponds to about 14,000 tonnes of CO2.

It is thus an important initiative in line with the guidelines adopted by the Region, which contributes to implementing the National Energy Strategies and reaching the targets set by the European Union.

25/10/2018

"In buone acque" (In good water): sustainable management of the integrated water cycle

The “In buone acque” report is 10 years old and does not show its age at all. The first and only example of a thematic report on the integrated water cycle that provides detailed and transparent information to the inhabitants of 231 municipalities in Emilia-Romagna, Marche and Triveneto where Hera manages the water supply system.

The report provides details on the quality and safety of the water supplied: about 1 million analyses have been conducted on the quality of the water, about 2,800 a day and 99.9% of these analyses gave a result compliant with the legislation in force.

The Hera Group concentrates the majority of its investments on the water sector: in 2017, they reached 156.6 million euros (+19% compared to 2016). With respect to a national average of 37 euros invested per inhabitant, in the area served by the Group, the investments amounted to about 49 euros per inhabitant. Despite these substantial investments, the cost of the tap water distributed remains at two euros for a thousand litres, about half the amount paid in other European countries.

The report also describes the benefits for the environment when tap water is consumed instead of bottled water: this choice, made by 35% of the customers served in the Hera area over the past few years, has avoided the production, transportation and disposal of 250 million plastic bottles (which would fill over 3 million roadside containers), and the corresponding emissions of CO2. The choice of tap water in place of bottled mineral water is not only convenient, safe and eco-friendly, it is also economically advantageous: an average family of three people making this choice saves about 300 euros a year.

Hera is the Italian multi-utility that improves every day, with regard to the environment, the quality of its waste management, water and energy services through strong links in the area in which it operates and the capacity for innovation